1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of brackets for holding various items.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of brackets have been designed to removably hold different types of tools, utensils and miscellaneous items. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,848 discloses a bracket mountable to a wall for holding a fishing pole. Such brackets generally are not readily available for use in holding and sorting lids for kitchen pots. Instead, kitchen pots and lids are stored in cabinets or drawers in a random manner providing a messy and cluttered appearance. I have therefore designed a bracket which may be used to removably hold a pot lid or utensil in an optimum manner. The bracket is designed to be mounted beneath a shelf or on a wall thereby allowing for storage of the lids in an area that is normally not utilized. Some of the brackets disclosed herein include a dual mounting capability for storing lids with different shaped handles.
I am aware of several U.S. patents which disclose a variety of brackets for mounting various items. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,536 issued to Meneghello and U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,945 issued to Melkonian disclose pot lid holders for holding the lid so that the longitudinal axis extending centrally through the handle extends respectively horizontally and vertically. U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,894 issued to Staver discloses a right angle bracket having a slotted concave surface, in turn, holding the vertically extending handle of a soap dispenser. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,677 issued to Pedracine discloses a holder device to both vertically and horizontally secure an object. Last, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,455 issued to Weber discloses a holding device securable by adhesive means beneath a counter with the holder having hooks for hanging hand bags and similar objects.
Despite the many prior brackets, there is still a need for providing a easy to use and inexpensive bracket for storing pot lids or utensils. Several embodiments of my bracket are disclosed herein. The mounting brackets disclosed herein provide versatility in that the bracket or pot lid holder may be mounted in any plane including the vertical or horizontal plane and can be mounted at any angle relative to these planes. That is, the pot lid holder may be mounted not only beneath a horizontal shelf but on a vertical wall, and inclined wall or any wall or mounting surface at any angle. The user may therefore determine how the pot lid holder is to be oriented or mounted to achieve its maximum effectiveness.